Biographical Information

Articles for Robert Reinhardt

How Will AI Change Your Streaming Business?

AI is the buzz term of 2024, and indeed, tech companies have put a lot of resources and commitment into adding or improving AI components in their products and services. The term AI covers a wide swath of technologies, but for this column, I'll focus mainly on generative AI, or services that can generate human-like output based on input that we humans provide.

Glass-to-Glass Report: Comparing Low-Latency Streaming Providers

In this article, I examine low-latency services provided by streaming CDNs, removing actual vendor names and making conclusions based on delivery method. I'll start with a discussion of the basics of latency before moving on to the testing results and analysis.

Why Aren’t You Streaming Your Live Event?

These days, the cost and technological barriers to live streaming are few are far between. Robert Reinhardt outlines some reasons why organisations may still hesitate to live stream their events, and he shows why these reasons are misguided. He breaks down the ways that even events with small budgets can still produce high-quality live streams.

5 Ways to Future-Proof Your Streaming Role with AI on the Rise

How do you keep your skills relevant and useful regardless of developments in AI, Machine Learning (ML), or more advanced automation in any process related to your role in streaming media? Whether you are a seasoned veteran or just starting out with your career, I recommend setting five goals for the coming year.

Integrating NDI Sources From Conferencing Platforms

Live-event video production during COVID has rapidly accelerated the use of NDI output from popular conferencing tools such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams, particularly for one-to-many broadcasts in which remote contributors are the norm. This article will explain how to enable NDI in Zoom and Microsoft Teams for higher-quality input sources into your live-streaming workflow.

Review: The Roland V-160HD Hybrid Event Video Switcher

While detailing every feature of this switcher is beyond the scope of the article, we'll present the top 10 features we fully appreciate on the Roland V-160HD, peppered with some constructive criticism for good measure.

The Future Is Real Time, and It Starts Now

Where and how does "real time" fit into your workflows in this "COVID and beyond" era? Similar to global wars accelerating advan­ces in medicine such as plastic surgery, COVID has pushed all of us working in streaming media to rethink, innovate, optimise, and rebuild many components of our day-to-day responsibilities. 

Live Production During COVID and Beyond

Lessons learned during the pandemic can provide guidance for how live producers can continue to not just survive but thrive.

Finding a Video Player That Works for You and Your Budget

The video player landscape has changed tremendously since Streaming Media examined it four years back. Here are the questions to ask when choosing a player and the features to watch for.

Developers Pay the Pioneer Tax for WebRTC Live Streaming

There's a cost to being cutting-edge, and for low-latency live video streaming that involves learning WebRTC and accepting limited browser support.

The Time to Prepare for Recovery Is Before Video Files Go Missing

Accidentally deleted a crucial video file? The good news is it might still be recoverable. Here are steps to take for recovery and to prevent loss from happening in the future.

Expert Tips for Creating a Better Facebook Live Experience

A little planning beforehand will ensure that a Facebook Live broadcast goes smoothly. Here are tips from an experienced live event producer.

Roundup Review: Looking at Sub-$2,000 Hardware H.264 Encoders

Is there one single encoder that stands apart when live streaming a range of content in H.264? This roundup looks at the best equipment for lower-budget productions.

Gone in a Flash: Migrating Videos to a Flash-Less World

For all its strengths, the clock has run out for Flash. Now is the time say goodbye and migrate to HTML5. Here's everything companies still relying on Flash need to know.

Thinking About Load Testing: It’s Not Just for the Enterprise

Even SMBs need to think about load testing these days to ensure they can serve audience demand. Here are three questions to consider.

Build or Buy? When Choosing an OVP, Ask Lots of Questions

Should your company go with an online video platform or create a custom solution? OVPs make upload and distribution easy, but aren't right for all use cases.

Is Flash Undead? What Will it Take to Finally Kill the Beast?

Everybody's using HTML5 and MPEG-DASH these days, right? Not so fast. Reports of Flash's death have been greatly exaggerated.

Is it Time Yet for 4K, H.265, and VP9 Adoption? Not So Fast

While it's fun to be on the cutting-edge of new video codecs and formats, H.264 should be every publishers' primary focus for the time being.

Choosing a Video Player: Features and Specs for the Top Five

We examine off-the-shelf video players MediaElement.js, Video.js, jPlayer, Flowplayer, and JW Player to show which of these five favorites is the best for any situation.